[...] After you pass through this small room, you are once again outside, but covered, in what would make any red blooded American weep with joy to see after traveling 10,000 miles from home. I can't begin to describe it, but it is utterly American. I'll have pictures of that portion of the line up soon, so don't worry, you'll see what I mean. As for the ride itself? I hate to spoil things and there are other places on the WWW which "claim" to describe it in detail, but you don't know it till you ride it. Trust me...
Then, I walked out into the outdoor station. The walls were bricked, and there were huge flags hanging down from the arched ceiling. I descended a stair case, onto the platform of the ride loading area. There had been no queue, which was probably because it was so early, and because Space Mountain has such a high ride capacity.
There were 2 loading areas, just like Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (i.e 2 tracks on either side that went off into one) A train pulled into the station on the left track, accompanied by triumphant music, and full of people with watering eyes. That proved that the ride must be fast, if there was so much air whizzing past you, that it made you cry.
The trains looked almost as amazing as the mountain. They were very ornate, with their gold tubing, and rivets, and looked like something out of the Rocketeer. The train came to a halt in front of me, the shoulder restraints lifted up, and the 24 passengers exited. I nervously stepped down, into the train.
The seat was very comfortable, and very well padded. I pulled the restraint down over my head, as it made a clicking sound, and gripped the 2 silver bars. The restraint was reassuringly chunky and very well padded. At least I'd be safe. 2 Disney ride assistants either side of the train, walked from the back of the train to the front, checking that all 24 restraints were lowered and securely locked. They were, and they gave the okay signal.
With that, our on-board audio system roared into life with the Space Mountain theme, and the train smoothly pulled out of the station. [... continued on the Ride-page]